A Melbourne woman has told how she and her partner made a daring last-minute escape from the hell that engulfed holiday villas in Bali, while another Australian who was sleeping at the same resort has friends to thank for saving her life.
The terrifying fire broke out at around 10.30pm on Thursday night in Seminyak, an area popular with Australians.
Alana Capo told Nine News she and her partner were confronted with a potentially deadly scene of infernal flames engulfing the villa next door to them.
“The exit to get out onto the main street was between the villas, so you either had to go through the fire or find another way out,” he explained.
Flames leapt over the thatched roofs of the villas, making the situation increasingly desperate.
However, keeping a cool head, the intrepid pair managed to find respite by climbing through a small gap onto the roof of a shed overlooking a rice paddy.
“We were waving our phones and screaming help, help, help,” Capo said.
“These locals just came and we basically jumped off the roof, four or five meters, and they caught us.”
Melbourne woman Alana Capo has told how she and her partner managed to escape a horrific fire at their villas in Bali.
Another Australian, Shirley Venter, said she owed her life to friends who returned to the village to save her as she slept peacefully, unaware of the danger.
“I was sleeping, I didn’t even know what was happening,” she told Nine.
‘They (the staff) were going to leave me there.’
Venter returned to the hotel on Friday to retrieve his belongings.
Perth tourist Rod Blitvich said hotel staff did their best to put out the flames by hosing down a roof.
“We saw them putting out a fire on a thatched roof with a hose,” he said.
Australian tourists have reported losing all their belongings after a massive fire (pictured) destroyed 16 villas at a Bali resort
Kuta police spokesman Anggi Wahyu Romadhoni said 19 of the 20 buildings in the complex were destroyed but no casualties were reported.
Earlier, Bailey, a Western Australian man staying at one of the villas, told Perth radio station 6PR that he and his friends had lost almost everything in the blaze.
“We were having dinner and when we were coming back we could see flames in the distance. As we got closer we realised our villa was on fire,” he said on Friday.
“I lost everything except my passport and cash. Most of us lost it. A couple of them lost their passports and a couple lost everything.”
Bailey said he and his companions will go to the Australian consulate to try to “get some new passports.”
“And then we’ll have to find some new accommodation somewhere.”
He said reports of people stealing items from the complex as the fire raged were probably not true.
Bailey, a man from Western Australia who was staying at one of the villas, told Perth radio station 6PR that he and his friends had lost almost everything. The fire is pictured
‘They were taking safes and mattresses out of the place. I don’t know if they were stealing them.
“They were just getting them out of there so nothing would get damaged,” he told Millsy and Karl on 6PR.